


Shadows Of Tarnished Gold

by Flustered_Sparrow



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: I Don't Even Know, Other, Short Story, Technoblade - Character - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:29:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25720606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flustered_Sparrow/pseuds/Flustered_Sparrow
Summary: His eyes shine of diamondsWith stories untoldHis words are of silverHis shadows tarnished gold
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 92
Collections: victors' tower (stories from floor 6)





	Shadows Of Tarnished Gold

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Khio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khio/gifts), [KenkuKry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KenkuKry/gifts), [WreakingHavok](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WreakingHavok/gifts).



_ Millions are watching. _

The ants crawl beneath him, fear etched into their faces at his wicked sharp edges, his diamond tough resolve. They watch him with wariness.

_~~Step on them, if you must.~~ _

The vultures soar above him, keen eyes scrutinising his every move, waiting to descend on him the second he slips. They watch him with cold malice.

In the halls of the Capitol, he is the crowning jewel, polished to perfection, placed on a pedestal above all others. The spotlight is bright, illuminating him for the world to see.

_~~All see the golden boy.~~ _

_ Smile. _

His face is still smattered with freckles. His hair has been dyed a candy floss pink. The weight of the gleaming diadem is insurmountable, it sits snugly on his head. The cape flutters behind him.

His smile is gilded silver, glittering in the camera flares. The makeup hides the tautness, the sneer beneath it. When the gold rubs off, the arena is there in blood-red rubies and topaz sands of time long lost.

_~~The hourglass has shattered, he is the crystal shard.~~ _

The Capitol doesn't care. He is the sweet and the bitter, they lap up both equally.

_~~Forged in fire, so fire he became.~~ _

_ Back straight. _

He walks out tall as he surveys the next tributes. He watches them quiver beneath him, still as intimidating as ever. He hears them whisper behind his back, lapdog, puppet, thinking he cannot hear. He repeats them back with a gaze sharper than his blade, they fall silent.

He's still in the training centre. The sword is familiar in his hand, metal clashing against metal as he tests himself against the next Career. They're good, of course, but he's always better. There are some things you can only learn in certain conditions, the right heat and pressure to forge a diamond.

_~~He's spent a lifetime in the arena.~~ _

He tries to teach them, but they never learn. When they leave, he haunts the training centre as a shadow against its walls. He knows better than to expect them to return.

_~~The weight of a thousand lives hangs heavy around his neck.~~ _

One returns, and he is banished from the centre. Routine returns, of monotonous videos, of empty speeches, of his face second page in every magazine. Life goes on, he lets it.

_ Chin up. _

He tilts his chin up and looks down at the crowd beneath him. It's second nature to him, now. He is their king, their idol, he is their's to parade about as they see fit. 

_~~How long's he been doing this now? One decade? Two?~~ _

One holds his gaze. They understand him, as a Victor, as a Career. They are proud of him for being the worst, the one with the most blood crystalised on his hands. They hold his gaze with aspiration, hoping that the next year it will be them.

_~~He stares through their gilded silver into their tarnished dreams.~~ _

The others shy away from his gaze, hoping that they will escape. There's a not of disgust in his voice as he addresses them, in the way they think that they can escape their fates. They have no choice. Neither did he.

Twelve, they sneer at him. They wear soot-stained smiles flimsy and plastic as the Capitol's so far away, barely concealing their contempt. As he steps up to the microphone, he's filled with the urge to snarl back. He keeps his composure. When they think he's finished, they jeer and crow, while his back is turned to hide his smirk.

~~_They're brave. And that's their mistake._ ~~

_ No-one is watching. _

~~_ The blood-stained crown is in his hand. Long live the king. _ ~~

_ His eyes shine of diamonds _

_ With stories untold _

_ His words are of silver _

_ His shadows tarnished gold _

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry it was so short, I just wanted to write something, so it's not that great.


End file.
